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Memories aren’t special because of what happened during them, but rather because of the people that make them with us. There’s a lot to be said for bonds that link you, transcending borders and years. These links are the one’s that mark your life, kind of like the lines on your palm.

Sometimes, there are no explanations as to why you’re drawn to someone without reason or logic. Why, in spite of fights, time and space coming in the way you still turn to only them in times of need. Sometimes, it feels like you’ve known them for eons and they are here to continue a relationship from a past time. and often, we trust them and love them against our better judgement, and that’s when they show us their loyalty.

A few people have played strange roles in my life -sometimes I’ve run from them, very often I’ve missed them but above and beyond all of this, I’ve always gone back to them. Family, you’re kind of forced to live but these people you love because of and in spite of what they bring to your life.

Once you’ve felt the strength of these bonds, that seem bigger than yourself you cannot settle for the superficial. Thank you to those who have been there for me, tolerated my nonsense and loved me even though you didn’t need to – this is for the original skinny, Big B, my chinki eyes, my co-cougar, meredith from a few seasons ago, the other skinny and the one that calls me lil one.

Like this:

“It’s like we lived parallel lives. Thousands of miles away from each in other, in three different countries we watched the same shows and loved the same things.”

No, this isn’t the beginning of a cheesy and strange three way love story. It is just what my friend from Germany observed one day when we talked about the things we loved growing up.

My class consists of people from China, USA, Poland, Lebanon, Germany, Kuwait, Italy, France and many more countries. It is truly a multicultural one and before we started university I didn’t know how people from such diverse backgrounds would get along.

They did.

I would say my closest friends here are a German girl and Indian who spent her life in Kuwait. I’ve spent all 21 of my years in Bombay city but I have so much in common with Stefanie Soenchen it scares me sometimes.

We both grew up watching the same cartoons, are big enough Harry Potter fans to stand for hours at the premiere and she has even grown to like spicy Indian food. We both value our mothers and believe in a God and rebirth. Considering she lived in Germany and I in India, how can we have the same values and priorities? The fact is, we do.

I learnt that Chinese women have the same respect for family and parents that traditional Indian families do, that unfortunately they had the same culture of families wanting a boy child over a girl. A tradition that is fortunately slowly dying in both countries.

I began to realise, it goes beyond just the colour of your skin and the language that you speak.

Spending time with a someone from your own country is familiar and it’s easy but true friendship transcends race, colour and language.

When someone close to you dies, whether you’re African, English or Indian, you feel the same emptiness and the same kind of pain. A good grade makes any student happy, no matter where you are from. When you’re writing an assignment in class, you lean on each other for support disregarding your country of origin.

Our countries, our race, our language they all act as boundaries that keep us away from each other but it is our emotions that bring us close. A smile is a smile, in any language and a tear, is a tear no matter where you come from.

This was the first time I was exposed to people from countries other than my own and it has been a fantastic experience, not only have I learnt that boundaries created by human beings are pointless but that Italian, Chinese and German food when cooked by the locals is extremely delicious!